4 Tips for success

So what can be done to not only avoid failure, but improve the chances of success? Watch this short video (3:26) from the TED Talks series, where Richard St. John talks about the ‘8 secrets of success’.

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Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[CLAPPING]

RICHARD ST. JOHN:
This is really a two-hour presentation I give to high school students cut down to three minutes. And it all started one day on a plane on my way to TED, seven years ago. And in the seat next to me was a high school student - a teenager. And she came from a really poor family. And she wanted to make something of her life. And she asked me a simple little question. She said, what leads to success? And I felt really badly because I couldn't give her a good answer.
So I get off the plane, and I come to Ted. And I think, jeez, I'm in the middle of a room of successful people. So why don't I ask them what helped them succeed and pass it on to kids. So here we are, seven years, 500 interviews later. And I'm going to tell you what really leads to success and makes TEDsters tick.
And the first thing is passion. Freeman Thomas says, I'm driven by my passion. TEDsters do it for love. They don't do it for money. Carol Coletta says, I would pay someone to do what I do. And the interesting thing is if you do it for love, the money comes anyway.
Work - Rupert Murdoch said to me, it's all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun. Did he say, fun? Rupert? Yes. TEDsters do have fun working, and they work hard. I figure they're not workaholics, they're workafrolics. Good.
Alex Garden says, to be successful, put your nose down in something and get damn good at it. There's no magic. It's practise, practise, practise. And it's focus.
Norman Jewison said to me, I think it all has to do with focusing yourself on one thing and push. David Gallo says, push yourself - physically, mentally - you've got to push, push, push. You've got to push through shyness and self-doubt.
Goldie Hawn says, I always had self-doubts. I wasn't good enough. I wasn't smart enough. I didn't think I'd make it. Now, it's not always easy to push yourself, and that's why they invented mothers.

[LAUGHTER]

Frank Gehry - Frank Gehry said to me, my mother pushed me. Serve. Sherwin Nuland says, it was a privilege to serve as a doctor. Now, a lot of kids tell me they want to be millionaires. And the first thing I say to them is, OK, well, you can't serve yourself. You got to serve others something of value, because that's the way people really get rich.
Ideas - TEDster, Bill Gates, says, I had an idea, founding the first micro-computer software company. I'd say it was a pretty good idea. And there's no magic to creativity in coming up with ideas. It's just doing some very simple things. And I give lots of evidence.
Persist. Joe Kraus says persistence is the number one reason for our success. You've got to persist through failure. You've got to persist through crap, which, of course, means criticism, rejection, assholes, and pressure.

[LAUGHTER]

The answer to this question is simple. Pay $4,000 and come to TED. Or failing that, do the eight things - and trust me - these are the big eight things that lead to success.
Thank you, TEDsters, for all your [INAUDIBLE].

[APPLAUSE]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

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St. John bases his eight suggestions on interviews with successful business people.

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Figure 13  Richard St. John’s 8 secrets of success
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The graphic displays eight jigsaw pieces which have been slotted together. On each piece is a different set of words: passion, hard work, focus, persistence, great ideas, being good, serve, and push yourself.

Figure 13  Richard St. John’s 8 secrets of success

David Mellor, a business mentor, has five top tips for success – these are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1  Top five tips for business success
Information
  • Make sure your information is timely, meaningful and relevant.
  • Make sure you understand the financial drivers in your business, in particular your gross and net margins and your break-even point.
Plan B
  • Businesses without a plan B often fail.
  • Make sure you carry out a business risk assessment and have contingencies in place for the medium and high risks.
Cash is king
  • Make sure you keep control of the working capital. An expansive order book is no use if you cannot pay your bills.
Putting all your eggs in one basket
  • Avoid concentration risk.
  • Great if you have a significant predictable revenue stream each month from one client, but what if they leave?
Values
  • Don’t lose sight of your core values – they should be enduring and if you lose them you leave yourself open to risk.

Footnotes  

(Mellor, 2014)

Activity 6

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Now we take these ideas and look at how they apply to one of the case studies.

Think about Red Bush Brewery [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . (To open the case study in a new tab on a PC, hold down the Ctrl key when clicking.) What advice would you give owner Sam, based on the comments from St. John and Mellor that will increase the chances of success? You do not need to cover all the points, just those you feel are relevant.

Comment

Here are our thoughts:

Sam needs to make sure that there are the right skills in the business. Red Bush Brewery must have a good brewer making the beer. Sam also needs to develop skills in brewing, there is a high risk that the person employed as the master brewer could leave, so by developing the skills himself, Sam could mitigate this risk.

Sam needs to have a plan B, what would happen if the brewery does not turn the required profit? Are there alternatives? Could the brewery be used as a teaching or experience for customers?

Sam needs to have a range of outlets for the beer, avoiding selling through just one local store.

Sam needs to realise that setting up a brewery is hard work and will take time to establish and build a reputation. When planning, Sam needs to allow time for this to take place and to stick with the idea if it struggles at first.

3.3 Manage the high risks

5 Your business